Millions of fake pound coins in UK

Published: 9:01AM Wednesday July 28, 2010 Source: Reuters

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Britain's tills are awash with fake one pound coins, with a record 41 million pounds-worth in circulation.

Treasury figures show that one in every 36 one pound coins is counterfeit, an increase on last year, when one in every 40 was phony.

The findings were published by Justine Greening, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, in a parliamentary answer to MP Andrew Rosindell.

"This has a huge effect on confidence in our currency. Clearly the one pound coin is something the Royal Mint needs to reconsider", said Rosindell.

Robert Matthews, the former Queen's Assay Master at the Royal Mint and the most senior coin tester in the country, agreed: "If the number of fakes keeps increasing at this rate, there will have to come a point when the Treasury makes the decision whether to remint or not."

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